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NEW JERSEY. COMMITTEE APPOINTED AT A 

PUBLIC MEETING OF THE FRIENDS OF EDUCATION, 



Report' 



1838. 




LIBRARY 

BUREAU OF EDUCATION 







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REPORT/ rn 

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COMMITTEE APPOINTED AT A PUBLIC MEET- 
ING OF THE FRIENDS OF 



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HELD AT THE STATE HOUSE, IN TRENTON, ON THE NIGHT 
OF THE ELEVENTH OF NOVEMBER, 1828; EXHIBITING A 
8UCCINCT ACCOUNT OF THE STATE OF 

COMMON SCHOOLS IN NEW-JERSEY. 

DERIVED FROM THE 




REPORTS 



Central and Sub-Committees, of several Counties and 
Townships in the State. 



TRENTON, N. J. 

PUBLISHED BY D> FENTON* 
Connolly 6f Madden, Printers* 

1828. 



— ^"-- U) 



33 



n 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



The Committee beg leave, very earnestly, to request all 
gentlemen who may receive this pamphlet, not only to read 
it attentively themselves, but also to circulate it as widely a8 
possible in their respective neighbourhoods, that the infor- 
mation which it contains may be generally diffused through- 
out the State. 



t 



&\ 





/ 



REPORT* 




The Committee to whom was referred that part of the 
Message of His Excellency, the Governor, which relates 
to Common Schools, beg leave to present the following 
Report : — 



The subject of Education is one upon the importance of 
which the Committee deem it unnecessary to dwell. In a 
government like ours, resting for its support entirely upon 
popular will, it is absolutely essential that the people should 
be enlightened. Their virtue and intelligence are the only 
foundations upon which our free institutions can safely re- 
pose. It is, therefore, one of .the highest obligations which 
can be imposed upon a free State, to provide for the Educa- 
lion of all its citizens. This duty, although not expressly en- 
joined upon the Legislature by our Constitution, as in some 
other states, is nevertheless one, the importance of which 
they have frequently recognized. So early as the year 1817, 
the foundation was laid of a fund for the support of Free 
Schools ;\his fund, by successive appropriations, was gradual- 
ly augmented until the year 1829, when it amounted to the- 
sum of two hundred and twenty-two thousand, four hundred] 
and forty-two dollars and seventy-eight cents. At that time 
an ardent desire was manifested by the people of New-Jer 
sey, that an effort should be made by the Legislature to ren-j 
der the proceeds of this fund available, by the establishmen 
of a system of Common Schools. Petitions and memorial 
were presented from all quarters of the State, and from al 
classes of citizens, invoking the aid of the representatives of 
the people, on behalf of popular instruction. The subject 
was referred to a joint-committee of Council and Assembly, 
by whom an able and interesting report was made. A mel- 
ancholy picture was drawn of the state of Education in JNew- 
Jersey. It appeared that there were nearly twelve thousand 
children under the age of fifteen, who were without the means 
of obtaining even the first rudiment of Education ; and nearly 
fifteen thousand persons over the age of fifteen, who were un- 
able to read or write ; and that consequently at least five 
thousand citizens were called upon to exercise the inestima- 
ble right of suffrage, without being capable of understanding 
its import, or appreciating its importance. The Committee 
review the various systems of Education in operation in other 



/ 



states, and conclude by recommending the immediate adop- 
tion of measures for the establishment of Common Schools in 
New-Jersey. 

A bill was prepared in conformity with the views of the 
Committee. It directed an appropriation of twenty thousand 
dollars out of the annual income of the School Fund, to be 
apportioned among the several townships in the State. It 
made it obligatory upon the inhabitants of each township, to 
raise by taxation an amount at least equal to that which they 
received from the State. And it made provision for the exann*> 
nation and licensing of teachers. This bill passed the House ,. 
of Assembly by an almost unanimous vote, and there was ev- 
ery prospect of its speedily becoming a law. It was des^ 
tined, however, to encounter a vigorous opposition in the 
other branch of the Legislature, and was finally amended so 
as to leave it discretionary with the townships, as to the 
amount which they should raise in addition to the sum paid 
to them out of the proceeds of the School Fund. This amend- 
ment struck at the foundation of the whole system. It de- 
prived the bill of what was considered by its friends, its most 
essential and valuable feature. Yet this was the shape in which 
the bill ultimately passed. Any amount, no matter how 
small, which the townships might raise, would be sufficient 
to entitle them to share in the public bounty. A supplement 
to this act passed the next year, 1830, which relieved the 
townships from the obligation of raising even a nominal 
amount by taxation, and deprived the School Committees of 
the power to examine and license teachers. Thus was the 
system rendered still more inefficient. It was, however, but 
of short duration, for both the original act and the supple- 
ment were repealed, and supplied by the act of 16th Febru- 
ary, 1831, relative to Common Schools, which is still in force. 

If the act of 1829 was found to be essentially defective, and 
if the supplement of 1830 made it worse instead of better, 
the Committee cannot perceive that any thing was gained by 
the act of 1831. It authorized the townships, it is true, to 
raise an additional sum by taxation or otherwise, for the pur- 
pose of Education, but this was an authority which they al- 
ready possessed. It went further, however. It recommended 
it to them to do so, but so tender were the Legislature of the 
rights of the townships, and so averse to every thing like com- 
pulsory measures, that the language of the recommendation 
was, that they should raise such additional sum as they might 
deem proper, thus leaving it precisely where the act of 1829 
had placed it, in the discretion of the townships. In every 
thing, however, which relates to the organization of Common 
Schools, the act of 1831 falls far short of the act of 1829.— 



5 

The division of townships into school districts; the election 
by the inhabitants of each district of trustees; the licensing 
and examination of teachers, are all abolished. Its sole ob- 
ject would seem to have been to provide for the distribution 
of the small pittance which each township was entitled to re- 
ceive from the school fund, as if this alone were sufficient for 
the accomplishment of every useful purpose. 

"Vet this is the only system of Common Schools, (if sys- 
tem it can be called,) which has existed in New-Jersey for 
the last four years. It could hardly have resulted otherwise 
than in a total failure to produce any of the beneficial ends 
for which it was designed. About one hundred thousand 
dollars have been expended — a sum nearly equal to one half 
of the School Fund ; and the Committee have looked in vain 
for evidence of any good that it has done. The expenditure 
has not only been useless, but it has been absolutely perni- 
cious. It has retarded, instead of advancing, the cause of 
education. The School Fund was once an object dear to the 
hearts of the people of New-Jersey. They watched its 
growth with anxious solicitude, and looked forward with 
confidence to the day when it should be the means of bring- 
ing home the blessings of education to every individual. But 
seeing that these hopes have been worse than disappointed, 
they are beginning to feel comparatively little interest in it. 
The whole subject of Common School education has fallen 
into neglect. Few, or no returns, are made by the School 
Committees. In most of the Townships in the State, there 
is literally nothing raised for the purposes of education. In 
those in which a small sum is now annually appropriated to 
this object, there is a growing indisposition towards it in the 
minds of the people. So that matters are every day grow- 
ing worse — while ignorance is increasing with fearful rapi- 
dity, bearing in its train pauperism and crime. It is per- 
fectly well known, that the subject of education is becoming 
more and more unpopular at our Township Meetings ; and 
that those who ought to guide public opinion in this matter, 
are constrained to yield to it. The money received from the 
State, is too small to create much anxiety as to the manner 
in which it is expended. Were it ever so judiciously appli- 
ed, it could not be productive of much benefit. But the fact 
is, it is often grossly misapplied. The manner in which it is 
disposed of, varies in almost every Township. In some, it 
goes towards the education of the poor. In others, it is dis- 
tributed among the several Schools in proportion to the num- 
ber of pupils taught. Sometimes it is given to the Teachers 
to make up for the deficiencies of those who are well able to 
pay, but who neglect to do so. While, in some cases, it is 



not applied at all to the object of education, but remains idle 
in the hands of the Collectors, or is borrowed for general 
Township purposes. 

The Committee, therefore, have no hesitation in recom- 
mending to the Legislature the repeal of the act of 1831. It 
would, unquestionably, be much better to let the School Fund 
accumulate, than to distribute its annual proceeds in such a 
way as to defeat entirely the great object for which it was 
designed. But the Committee are of opinion, that the time 
has arrived when the State of New-Jersey is Called upon to 
adopt a much more liberal and enlightened system of educa- 
tion than has hitherto prevailed. If she means to keep pace 
with the spirit of the age — if she means to emulate the ex- 
ample of her sister states, she must enter earnestly upon the 
work of popular instruction. Her people are growing up in 
ignorance. They are not only far behind those of many of 
the neighbouring states, but it is a humiliating fact, that, in 
point of education, they suffer by a comparison with the in- 
habitants of countries in Europe — of their superiority to 
whom, in every other respect, they may well be proud. 

There are some pursuits in which the path to distinction is 
not open to New-Jersey. Her territory is small, and her 
physical resources are limited. As a Commercial State, she 
cannot hope for much eminence — overshadowed, as she is, 
by the great commercial metropolis of the nation. In Agri- 
culture, she must yield to the superior extent and fertility of 
the West. But, in the pursuit of knowledge, a glorious ca- 
reer is spread before her. Here she may achieve a triumph 
more glorious and enduring than any other — a triumph over 
ignorance. Upon this career, what is to prevent her from 
entering? The people, surely, are not unwilling to be edu- 
cated. They may not have the ability, or the disposition, to 
educate themselves ; but let the means of a good education 
be provided for them, and they will gladly embrace them. 
At present, where good Schools are so few, parents must 
send their children from home that they may be well edu- 
cated. Let there be a good School in every neighbourhood, 
and there are few who would not avail themselves of it. It 
is not a large School Fund that is so much wanted in New- 
Jersey. In those states in which the people are, perhaps, 
the best educated, they have no SehoolFund; whereas, in 
Connecticut, where the Fund is so large as to render a resort 
to taxation unnecessary, education is in a comparatively lan- 
guishing condition. To depend entirely upon public bounty, 
paralizes exertion. We are not apt to value highly that 
which costs us nothing. A good system of education, is what 
we stand in need of. Give the people of New-Jersey that 



and they will be willing to support it. They expended their 
blood and treasure freely, to purchase their freedom ; they 
will surely give something to preserve it. They raise money 
by taxation, for all the other great interests of the State; 
they will not refuse to tax themselves, when that greatest of 
all interests, Education, demands it. Let not the represen- 
tatives of the people be behind the people themselves in this 
matter. 

What that system of education should be, which is called 
for by the wants of the people of New-Jersey, the Commit- 
tee are not prepared to report. It is a subject, which re- 
quires great care and deliberation, and in reference to which, 
crude and imperfect views are to be deprecated. They have 
not, therefore, ventured upon a task, to which they feel that 
it is impossible for them to do justice. The cause of educa- 
tion has already suffered in New-Jersey, by precipitate leg- 
islation. Nor is immediate action, perhaps desirable. The 
subject of public instruction, is one which is now arresting 
the attention both of Europe and America. The best minds 
are engaged in its investigation ; the most enlightened go- 
vernments are devising means for its promotion ; and every 
day's experience, is suggesting something new and valuable. 
Delay, therefore, while it will afford time for mature reflec- 
tion, will enable us to avail ourselves, more extensively, of 
the wisdom and research of others. 

In addition to this, the Committee would respectfully sug- 
gest, that before any thing is attempted by the Legislature, 
an inquiry ought to be made into the actual condition of 
Common Schools throughout the State. The full extent of 
the evil ought to be known, before a remedy is provided. An 
effort of this kind was made" in 1828, but it was made by in- 
dividuals, and not by public authority, and was only partial- 
ly successful. Sufficient, however, was discovered to show 
that ignorance prevailed, to a most lamentable extent. Let 
the effort then be renewed, under the auspices of the Legisla- 
ture. Let a Commissioner be appointed, whose duty it shall 
be, to examine into the state of education, and the condition 
of Common Schools throughout New-Jersey, and to report to 
a subsequent Legislature, the result of his examination. Let 
him, at the same time, be charged with the preparation of a 
plan of public instruction, to be submitted to the Legislature 
for its approval and adoption. Such an officer, the Commit- 
tee believe will always be found essential to the success of 
any system that may hereafter be adopted. In other States 
where provision is made by law, for public instruction, it has 
been deemed indispensable to have a Commissioner or Super- 
intendent of Common Schools, whose duty it is, to preside 



over the interests of education, and to make annual reports 
to the Legislature. 

Should it be considered advisable, then, to repeal the ex* 
isting law, and to suffer the School Fund to accumulate for 
the present, with a view to the adoption of a new and a more 
enlightened system; the Committee would recommend the 
immediate appointment of a Commissioner, with a competent 
salary, to be paid out of the income of the School Fund. In 
conformity with these views, the Committee beg lenve to re- 
port a bill, entitled "An Act to repeal An Act entitled 'An 
Act relative to Common Schools,' passed the 16th day of 
February 1831, and for other purposes." 

By order of the Committee. 

RICHARD S. FIELD, Chairman. 



AN ACT to repeal an act, entitled " An act relative to Com- 
mon Schools," passed the sixteenth day of February, eigh- 
teen hundred and thirty-one, and for other purposes. 

Sec. 1. BE IT ENACTED by the Council and General 
Assembly of this State, and it is hereby enacted by the autho- 
rity of the same, That the act entitled " An act relative to 
Common Schools," passed the sixteenth day of February, 
eighteen hundred and thirty-one, be, and the same is hereby 
repealed. 

Sec. 2. And be it enacted, That there be appointed a 
Commissioner of Schools in the State of New-Jersey, who 
shall, as soon as may be after his appointment, proceed to 
examine into the state of Education, and the condition of 
Common Schools throughout the State, and to report to the 
next Legislature, the result of his examination, together with 
a system or plan of Common School Instruction, for their ap- 
proval and adoption. 

Sec. 3. And be it enacted, That it shall always be the 
duty of the said Commissioner, amongst other things, to pre- 
pare and submit an annual report to the Legislature, contain- 
ing a statement of the condition of the Common Schools of 
the State; estimates and accounts of expenditures of all mo- 
neys appropriated bylaw to the purposes of Education ; plans 
for the improvement and management of the School Fund, 
and for the better organization of Common Schools ; and all 
such matters pertaining to his office, and relating to Educa- 
tion, as he may deem it expedient to communicate. 



Sec. 4. And be it enacted, That the said Commissioner shall 
be appointed by the Governor, or person administering the 
Government of the State, and shall receive a compensation 
for his services, during the continuance of his office, at the 
rate of dollars by the year, to be paid 

to him out of the income of the School Fund : Provided, that 
the said Commissioner may, at any time, be removed by a 
concurrent resolution of the Council and Assembly. 



#c. 



The undersigned, a committee appointed to receive the 
reports, from the several counties in the state of New-Jersey, 
of the number and condition of common schools, and to 
ascertain, as far as practicable, the number of children who 
are wholly destitute of instruction, have attended to this 
duty, and subjoin the result of their investigations : — 

The committee have been gratified with the general in- 
terest that seems to have pervaded the minds of all classes 
of our fellow-citizens. In almost every county inquiries 
have been promptly instituted, for the purpose of present- 
ing that detailed information on this subject, which is 
necessary, in order toexhibit the extent of the evil, and the 
more efficiently to provide and apply suitable relief. In the 
cheerfulness with which our most respectable citizens have 
assumed the duties of sub-committees, to search out the 
wants of their respective townships, the committee rejoice 
to recognize a pledge on the part of the public, to sustain 
the Legislature, in a judicious and well digested system of 
common school education. 

It would not perhaps be suitable in a document of this 
character, to enter particularly into the consideration of all 
the probable benefits that may flow from the proposed im- 
provement. Yet the committee must be permitted to remark, 
that one prominent advantage, which we may safely hope 
for, will be the new and elevating impulse that will be given 
to the education of the great mass of our children, by the 
very adoption of a system for the purpose, on the part of our 
public legislative guardians. This fact will, in its immediate 
tendency, exert a wholesome influence upon public senti- 
ment. No argument can be half so convincing, as for men 
to perceive that the public concern is awakened, and that our 
Lawgivers have taken this matter in hand, and feel it to be so 
momentous, as to engage much of their wisdom and care, 



in proper regulations and prudent and minute superinten* 
tlence* 

The very moment a system of measures shall be put forth 
to the people, the subject will rise in their estimation — and 
at each succeeding year, as reports from each county and 
every township shall be prepared, and submitted to the Legis- 
lature, the interest in common schools will increase, and 
very soon it will identify itself with our habits — and a con- 
viction of its national importance will remain so fixed in the 
public mind, as to secure its perpetual preservation from 
change or caprice. 

The committee are aware that many and serious difficul- 
ties must assail the first years of such a system — but they are 
consoled by the reflection, that nothing valuable was ever 
yet accomplished without difficulty. Reform always en- 
counters obstacles — in the sluggishness of our tempers — in 
attachment to old systems — and in the want of that moral 
courage, that often leads us to shrink from new and continued 
experiments. But when the mischief is so appalling, and 
the promise of amelioration, so sober and so eel-tain, we 
repose with strong confidence upon the energy of our fellow- 
citizens, to come up to this work of philanthropy, with a de- 
cision and firmness that will ensure the happiest results. 

The committee will now proceed to lay before the Legisla- 
ture and the public, with as much detail as is consistent with 
the length which they have assigned to their report, the in- 
formation which has been submitted to them. In doing this, 
they deem it most proper, and most satisfactory, to give a 
condensed view of the state of common schools in each 
county, derived from such materials as they possess. And 
beginning with the northern part of the state, they will, in 
giving this survey of the conaties, observe, in some measure, 
their geographical order. 

BERGE1V. — The committee regret that they have not 
been able to obtain a report of 'the state of the schools in 
this county. A Central Committee of excellent men was 
appointed at Hackensack, but at so late a period in the 
summer, that it has probably been impossible for them to 
accomplish much in the work which they proposed to do. 
From information which the committee have obtained from 
a variety of sources, they are persuaded that the state of 
education in some sections of this county is truly deplora- 



Me. In the mountainous parts, particularly, they believe 
that there is a great destitution of schools, want of compe- 
tent teachers, and an absence of the means of supporting 
them. And even in the level, and more wealthy townships, 
they have been credibly informed that there are many child- 
ren of pooT and negligent parents, who are not sent to school. 
It is affirmed upon good authority, that there are more than 
iwo hundred such children in Bergen township alone. 

ESSEX. — The committe have received from the Cen- 
tral Committee of this county, reports form several town- 
ships. These reports reveal a state of things, as it regards 
the state of education, as unexpected as it is appalling. — 
From the best estimate which they can make from the data 
furnished by the reports (some of which are compete, and 
•others partial) from the townships of Newark, Orange, 
Aquackanonck, Union, Westfield, Livingston, New-Hrori- 
dence, and Caldwell, there cannot be less than twelve hun- 
dred children of an age proper to be sent to school, that 
may be considered destitute of instruction. Indeed 
this is a number greatly below what the reports of the com- 
mittees of the townships above named, would sustain the 
committee in estimating. But they prefer to be far within 
the boundaries of the truth to the risk of exceeding them. 
The teachers are said to be generally moral, and exemplary 
in their conduct. There are more cases of deficiency in liter- 
ary qualifications, than of want of moral character, among 
the teachers of this county. As to the children who are 
destitute of instruction, a few of them may have attended 
schools, and the remainder have never enjoyed any instruc- 
tion. Some of them are the children of parents who are too 
poor to pay for their tuition, or spare their labor ; others are 
loo remote from the school, and others (who constitute by 
far the largest class) are the children of parents who are 
ignorant of the advantages of education, and are conse- 
quenly negligent of the instruction of their children. There 
appears to 'be a general belief among intelligent men through- 
out this county, that the qualifications of the teachers are far 
from being as high as they ought to be, and that it is true 
economy to employ well qualified men as instructers, even 
if a higher price must be paid for their services ; for, as is 
well remarked by the committee of one township, " such a 
teacher will do more in one year, than is ordinarily done in 
four.' 1 A report from one of the sub-committees of this 



county, contains the following judicious remarks, in relation 
to well qualified teachers. "I, sir, very much wish that 
some plan of improvement may be attempted to raise the 
tone of feeling respecting our common schools. I have 
thought of no plan better than to establish a high school for 
the sole purpose of educating young men for teachers. Let 
them be taught, in this school, not only the common branches 
required to be taught in common schools, but let them be in- 
structed, and properly disciplined in the best mode of com- 
municating ideas to the young mind. They should learn to 
govern themselves, and to govern a school without a rod, 
and without speaking a cross word. Let all government be 
effected by mild and pleasing persuasion, that shall so win 
the affections of every child, that he will feel most pleased 
when he pleases his teacher most. " 

MORRIS. — The committee have received an interest- 
ing report of the state of education in this county, from its 
active and zealous Central Committee. This report is com- 
plete, as it regards Morris, Hanover, Chatham, Jefferson, 
Roxbury, Washington, Chester, and Mendham ; deficient as 
it respects Randolph, and partial with regard to Pequanack 
townships. It is probable that this county more richly 
enjoys the advantages and blessings of education, than any- 
other in the State. Sixty-nine schools, and 2411 scholars 
are reported, and making a probable estimate for the parts 
not reported, there are about 82 schools, and 2800 scholars 
in the county. Many of these schools are kept up during the 
winter only. Female teachers are in many places employed 
to instruct small children in the summer. The price of tui- 
tion varies from $1.50 to $2.00 per quarter. Reading, wri- 
ting, and arithmetic, are taught in the common schools; the 
languages and the higher branches of English education are 
taught in several academies, which are included in the above 
number. The character of the teachers is generally good, 
although there are not wanting instances of those that are 
immoral. Their qualifications are in the language of the 
committee, " in too many instances, not so good as might 
be Wished, but it is not often that they are grossly deficient." 

With respect to the number of children not educated, the 
committee are not able to state any thing definite. In some 
townships, there are said to be very few who are not sent 
to school a part of the year : in one, about 30 are mention- 
ed, who are destitute of instruction ; in another, 120; many 



of whose parents" are not able to give them such an educa- 
tion as would be proper in their station in life. A neigh- 
bourhood in one of the townships, having about 25 children, 
is represented as destitute. In another township nearly 150 
were ascertained who are not attending schools. The popu- 
lation of this county was 21,368 at the last census. If we 
allow that one fifth of this population ought to go to school 
at least a part of the year, (in New York it is estimated that 
one fourth of the whole population go to school a part of the 
year,) then there ought to be more than 4000 scholars, in- 
stead of 2800 above mentioned. The committee feel incli- 
ned to believe that they do not exceed the boundaries of pro- 
bability, when they estimate that there are at least 600 
children in this county, destitute of adequate means and op- 
portunities of receiving any valuable amount of education. 

SUSSEX. — The Central Committee of this county, aid- 
ed by the zealous co-operation of the several township com- 
mittees, have performed the work of investigation, very 
promptly and very carefully. Their report is remarkably 
complete. They have presented an almost entire map of 
the schools of that county. It is greatly to be lamented, how- 
ever, that it is necessary that such a statement of facts, as it 
regards schools, should be made, respecting any county in 
New-Jersey. It appears from the report of the Central Com- 
mittee, that there are in eight townships, more than twenty 
districts destitute of schools, and the astonishing number of 
nearly fifteen hundred children destitute of instruction / 
Indeed, they do not think that more than one half of the chil- 
dren, in some parts of the county, enjoy the benefit of in- 
struction at school, to such an extent as to be of any value. 
With regard to the character and qualifications of the teach- 
ers, the committee beg leave to give the opinions of the Cen- 
tral Committee in their own words, and it will be seen, that 
in this respect, too, the state of things in this county is truly 
deplorable. " As to the morals and qualifications of the 
teachers, the committee should perhaps be silent. But the 
importance of the matter, and the call for information, demand 
of them an answer without reserve. Some of the township 
committees are not so particular on these points as it was 
wished they should be ; but from the information communi- 
cated, and from the personal knowledge which the commit- 
tee possess, it may be safely stated, that many of those holding 
themselves forth as teachers, are incompetent to teach, or too 



8 

loose in morality to deserve employment. The teachers 
of some schools are of transient stay ; others inconstant in 
their attendance ;— others incompetent to teach when em- 
ployed, others immoral; and some intemperate. But the 
committee are glad to say, that some of the teachers are sta- 
ted to be what they should be, and are regarded by their em- 
ployers as competent, and of good moral character. The 
committee do not wish this matter to rest upon their mere as- 
sertion ; they refer to the statements "from the townships ; 
though theygo upon what they think is a reasonable presump- 
tion, when they believe that there may be cases in which the 
township committees, from motives of delicacy, have forborne 
to disclose the deficiencies, or the vices of teachers, which 
in fact exist. The committee of the township of Wantage 
say, in relation to one school, " it has been badly managed, 
and the teachers have been of a bad character and incapable 
of teaching the common branches." Of another, they speak 
in the same language ; of a third, "this school is in a good 
neighbourhood for the attendance of the children, but owing 
to the bad character of the teachers, the school is generally 
small." And yet, say the same committee, " the moral's of 
the teachers are generally better than their qualifications." 
It may be proper to introduce here the remark of a member 
of a committee of Walpack. u As to the number of children 
destitute of school instruction," he observes, " 1 am at a loss 
to answer. I believe there are few, if any, in the Pleasant- 
Valley district, entirely destitute ; but it is to be lamented 
that there are too many of us who consider that degree of 
instruction sufficient for our children, which places them but 
a small grade above total destitution." 

The committee will only add, with respect to this county t 
the concluding sentence of the report of the Central Com- 
mittee. 

" In conclusion, the committee feel warranted in expres- 
sing the earnest and universal desire of the people, that some- 
thing might be done for the encouragement and support of 
schools, and the promotion of education. The example of 
other states in this Union, the deplorable ignorance of multi- 
tudes of our own population, and the spirit of the age, all 
urge to action in this matter. And it is humbly believed, 
that Legislative interference alone will furnish an adequate 
corrective of the evils and defects in our present system of 
common schools." 



WARREN. — The committee think that they cannot 
do better than to submit to the public the entire report 
which they have received from the intelligent Central Com- 
mittee of this county. It speaks a language which must 
deeply impress the mind of every man who feels any con- 
cern for the happiness and the honour of our State. 

" The Central Committee for the county of Warren, on 
the subject of common schools in said county, have to lament 
the apathy of those gentlemen who were appointed as com- 
mittees in some of the townships, on that all-important sub- 
ject. From some parts of our county, we have no reports ; 
from others our information is limited. From the scanty in- 
formation received, however, enough maybe gathered to sat- 
isfy every mind, that the state of common schools, generally, 
in our county, is deplorable. Taking those parts of the 
county from which we have received reports as our guide in 
making a report for the whole, we submit the following, not 
doubting that if the whole truth were obtained, the picture 
would be still more gloomy. 

" We have in our county fifty-seven school-houses, and 
about twenty regions of very considerable extent, wholly 
destitute. About thirty is the average number of pupils 
that attend each school. As near as can be ascertained, at 
twelve of the school-houses, the schools are kept up during 
the whole year. Of the remaining forty-five, some have been 
destitute the whole of the past year ; in some, they have had 
teachers three months, in some six months, and in a very few, 
nine months. The price of tuition varies from $1.26 to 
$2.00 per quarter. With few exceptions, no branches higher 
than reading, writing, and arithmetic are taught. 

" With regard to the teachers, we would observe that 
there are a few who deserve the name, and who ought to be 
encouraged. But their number is small. The greater part 
are utterly incompetent to discharge the high and important 
trust which they have undertaken ; and too many set exam- 
ples at which the mind of every philanthropist must revolt ! 

'• As to the number of destitute children, it is impossible 
to make an estimate with any thing like certainty. It will 
be seen from the foregoing statement, that about sixteen hun- 
dred children receive school instruction some part of the 
year. And when we reflect that we have a population of 
more than seventeen thousand in our county, we conclude 
that by far the greater number of the children are entirely 
destitute. 

B 



10 

" Surely the above statement is of itself sufficient to awa- 
ken the zeal and energy ol our Legislature. Comment is un- 
necessary. We would, in conclusion, simply remark, that 
in our opinion, the people are anxiously looking for aid from 
the Legislature, on this subject ; and ready to second any and 
every effort that they may make to ameliorate their condition 
in this respect. " 

SOMERSET.— The Central Committee of this county 
report, that the committees of the several townships have 
all very promptly, and generally very thoroughly, performed 
the tasks which they were requested respectively to under- 
take. They report that there are 166»7 children instructed 
in 60 schools in this county, and report four hundred and 
eighty-Jive children as destitute of instruction. Many of 
the schools are open a part of the year only, in some instan- 
ces, from inability ; and in others, from a want of inclination 
in the people to support a teacher. Several of the townships 
raise small sums annually, for the education of poor children ; 
and honourable mention is made of one individual, in Bridge- 
water township, that contributes $80 per annum for this 
philanthropic purpose. The committee of Hillsborough re- 
port 49 children, as educated at the town's expense, this 
year. The character of the teachers is represented as gener- 
ally good ; — but in one township, a teacher is reported, as an 
avowed infidel, and a scoffer at religion. 

The committee close their brief notice of this county, 
with a sentence or two from a letter of the distinguished mem- 
ber of the Central Committee of this county, who transmit- 
ted their report. " I regret exceedingly that I shall not have 
the pleasure of being present at your meeting,* and participat- 
ing in whatever may be done for the furtherance of the cause 
of education in our state. It is the duty of every man to 
take part in this work of benevolence. Who could have 
thought, that in the county of Somerset, where poverty and 
want appear to be almost strangers, there should be upwards 
of four hu ndred children growing up in utter ignorance !" 

HUNTERDON. — The committee have been furnish- 
ed with full reports from seven townships in this county, and 
taking them as a fair basis, on which to form the general calcu- 
lation for the county, they have estimated the number of des- 

* He was at that time confined to .his house, by severe indisposition. 



11 

titute children at nine hundred and seven, which they believe 
to be much within the actual number of those in this county, 
who do not enjoy the benefits of instruction. — We rejoice, 
that the developement of the ever deplorable want of common 
education, has awakened the concern of many of our most re- 
spectable fellow-citizens, in every part of this county. — The 
sub-committee of the township of Tewksbury, at the close of 
their report, remark, " you will thus perceive, that in the town- 
ship of Tewksbury, there are only one hundred and four 
children, who are receiving the benefit of school instruction, 
while there are one hundred and fifty who are entirely 
destitute ; more than one half of whom will never receive 
the advantages of education, unless assistance is afforded. — 
We think with you, that it is absolutely necessary that some- 
thing should be done in this matter, and that quickly. Noth- 
ing, we imagine, can be done efficiently, without Legislative 
aid; and we assure you of our earnest co-operation, in all 
measures, calculated to rescue the rising generation from the 
dominion of ignorance and vice, and make them intelligent 
and useful members of the community. With all our heart, 
we bid you God speed". In the report from another town- 
ship in this county, it is stated, " our schools are badly regu- 
lated; but few have trustees appointed ; and we are very 
often imposed upon by strangers, who palm themselves upon 
us as teachers, whose habits are bad in every respect, and 
disqualified for teachers of youth," 

MIDDLESEX.— The Central Committee of this 
county report that they have received returns from four of 
the eight townships : three of which are complete, and one 
partial. The townships are West Windsor, South Amboy, 
Piscataway, and Woodbridge. In the first three of these 
townships, there are 25 schools, more than half of which are 
kept up six months annually. Several only three, and the 
remainder from nine to twelve months. The moral charac- 
ter of the teachers is represented as in general good ; in some 
instances, pious ; but in several cases, as bad. The price of 
tuition varies, from $1.50 to $2.50. The general price is $1.75. 
— As to the number of children who are destitute of instruc- 
tion, nothing very accurate is ascertained. The committee 
of West Windsor report about 150 i that of Piscataway, 131; 
one district of Woodbridge, 15 ; and that of South- Amboy, 
500 ! So that there axe in the three townships of Piscata- 
way, South Amboy and West Windsor alone, more than sett* 



12 

en hundred and fifty children, in a great degree destitute 
of instruction, and who, if left as they are at present, without 
aid, or excitement on the part of their parents and guardians 
to educate them, will generally, not even obtain the ordinary 
amount of instruction, limited as it is, which is obtained by 
the children of other and more favoured classes of the commu- 
nity If any thing like what is above stated, be the true state 
of education in these townships, it is very certain that it ia 
high time that something was done on this subject, for there 
cannot, on this supposition, be less than one thousand chil- 
dren in the entire county, who are destitute of the necessary 
facilities for obtaining a common education ! ! 

MONMOUTH. — The committee regret, that they have 
received complete reports from only three of the seven 
townships in this county ; these probably embrace the best 
portions of the county. The townships are Freehold, 
Upper Freehold, and Shrewsbury. These reports appear 
to have been prepared with great care, and reflect much 
credit upon the committees of those townships. 

In Freehold township, there are 18 school-houses, 11 of 
which are vacant, some of them so, on account of the ina- 
bility, imaginary or real, of the people to maintain a school ; 
and the remainder are vacant only for a short time, and will 
be supplied as soon as teachers can be obtained. The whole 
number of children in the township, who ought to go to 
school is about 900, of whom nearly one half, either receive 
no instruction at all, or go so irregularly, as to receive no 
benefit worthy of estimation. In Upper Freehold, there are 
1 6 schools. The number of scholars attending these schools, 
with a good degree of constancy, is 420 ; the number in the 
township that go to school very irregularly, 304, and 1 39 
growing up in entire ignorance ! — In Shrewsbury township, 
there are reported to be 12 schools, 295 scholars attending ; 
1 64 attending sometimes, and 113 that are entirely destitute 
of instruction ! If we were to assume the number ©f those 
that are reported as growing up in entire ignorance in these 
three townships as the basis of a calculation for the whole 
county, the result would be, that there are nearly, if not 
quite, 1000 children in this county, growing up in ignorance. 
But when we consider that the other townships are certain- 
ly much more destitute of the means of instruction than those 
above named, it is probable that the real number is great- 
er than that ^supposed. Even with regard to the three 



13 

townships mentioned, the Central Committee hold the fol- 
lowing language : " We do not think the above reports in- 
clude near all the children in the several townships, but the 
committee thought it best to be within the real bounds in 
their description." And after mentioning some neighbour- 
hoods entirely destitute of school-houses, they add with re- 
spect to the other parts of the county, "It is believed by those, 
with whom we have conversed on the subject, that the schools 
in Middletown and Howell, are in quite as bad a state as the 
above named townships, although we have not received any 
regular reports from the committees in these townships. No 
reports have been received from Dover or Stafford, but their 
state is truly lamentable 1." 

The committee will only add, that it was ascertained, by 
the agents employed by the N. J. Bible Society, last year, 
that there were more than 1000 persons above 15 years of 
age, in Shrewsbury, Dover, and Howell, who cannot read, 
and seven hundred children who were not sent to school- 
One of these agents says, " As to the number of children) 
who enjoy to any valuable extent, the privilege of schools,, 
it is greater than the above stated, by some hundreds ; those 
mentioned do not enjoy this privilege at aM" 

BURIilXGTQN. — The committee beg leave to sub* 
mit to the public, the entire report of the Central Committee 
of this county, under whose auspices the state of common 
schools, in that portion of the state, has been very accurate- 
ly ascertained. This report was read at a public meeting: 
of the inhabitants of the county, held at Mount Holly, on the 
31st of October, and is as follows : " The committee ap- 
pointed at a public meeting, held at G. Owen's Inn, in Mount 
Holly, on the 28th of June, 1828, to ascertain the state of 
schools in the county of Burlington, beg leave to present the 
following statement. The committee feel bound to state, 
that this information has been mostly procured by the aid of 
Mr. Peck, who has visited every township in the county, and 
thus enabled the committee to extend their inquiries much 
beyond their individual sphere of action. The committee 
find the whole number of schools to be 1 20, with an aggre- 
gate number of 2857 pupils. Among these are four board- 
ing schools ; one free school in Burlington, and one charity 
school in Mount Holly, under the direction of, and support- 
ed by, a number of benevolent females in that town. The 
committee regret to state the fact that there are about four 



14 

hundred children nearly destitute of schooling, besides a 
number who are altogether without education." — A schedule 
is annexed to this report, exhibiting the particular state of 
each township ; from which it appears that there are 74 
male, and 46 female teachers in the county; 68 schools 
taught all the year, and 52 only a part : price of tuition, 
from $1.1 2£ to $2.00 and $3.00 per quarter,, and in some few 
cases more : and 629 scholars reported, who are more than 
14 years of age. The committee regret, that a more defi- 
nite estimate has not been given, of those that are destitute 
of instruction, as their number must be very considerable 
in this county ; although parts of it are very well supplied 
with good schools and capable instructers. There are also 
considerable permanent funds in some townships in this 
county, whose interest is devoted to the promotion of schools. 
The society of Friends in this county, as in other parts of 
the state, have always paid great attention to the mainte- 
nance of good schools, and the education of the poor. The 
committee regret too, that nothing is said in the above re- 
port respecting the moral character ', and qualifications of 
the teachers, which are matters of great moment. 

GLOUCESTER.— The committee regret that they 
have received no official report from this county, which is the 
largest in territory, although with regard to population it is only 
the fifth in the State. The cause of this failure, on the part of 
the Central Committee of this county, has been the serious 
and protracted illness of its corresponding secretary, who is a 
devoted friend to the cause of education, and who had as- 
sumed the work of exploring the county. He had made 
considerable progress in this work, when he was prevented 
by sickness from doing any thing more. From the investiga- 
tion which he made, and the reports from parts of several 
townships, the the commitee learn that there is a very great 
want of schools in some parts of this county^ In some places 
where the population is sparse, the people have been for 
years destitute of schools, and they are represented as being 
very solicitous to obtain opportunities of educating their chil- 
dren. For the reason just assigned, the sparseness of the 
population, as also their poverty in some cases, it will be im- 
possible, in many places, that schools should be support- 
ed for a sufficient length of time, without legislative aid. 
The commitee are gratified to learn from good sources that 
many intelligent men in this county are very anxious that the 



• 15 

Legislature should yield that aid as speedily as possible, and 
are willing to render, on their part, a cordial co-operation. 

SALEM. — The committee have received a report from 
the Central Committee of this county, which exhibits pretty 
fall accounts of the state of the schools in the following five 
townships of the county, viz. — Upper PennVNeck, Lower 
PennVNeck, Lower Alloway's Creek, Pilesgrove, and Up- 
per Alloway's Creek. The committees of the other five 
townships had not made reports, before the Cental Commit- 
tee transmitted their report. In the above mentioned town- 
ships there are 29 schools ; 768 scholars in summer, and 
1214 in winter; 347 white children, (30 of whom are in- 
dented,) and 100 colored children that may be reported not 
educated ; five school districts destitute of schools ; and the 
price of tuition to be from $1.50 to $2.00. A considerable 
portion of those that are destitute of education, are so from 
want of schools conveniently near them, and the negligence 
of their parents ; the remainder from poverty. Several of 
the teachers are represented as fully capable to teach, and 
of good moral character. But several are considered by 
the Central Committee as totally unfit for the important em- 
ployment in which they are engaged. The committee regret 
that the other townships of the county have not been reported, 
and in the same exact and satisfactory manner. They rejoice, 
however, to see evidence of such correct thinking, on this sub- 
ject, as is manifested in the following extract from the report 
of one of the committee of Upper Alloway's Creek : " I 
will only add, that I rejoice to see a spirit of reform in ope- 
ration. The system of common school instruction through- 
out the state is miserably deficient, and calls loudly for 
amendment. Intelligence is the life of liberty ; and a gene- 
ral diffusion of common school learning through the medium 
of common schools will be, under heaven, the strongest bul- 
wark of our civil and religious privileges ; and 1 earnestly 
hope that our Legislature will be induced to adopt some 
more efficient mode of instruction than at present obtains." 

And the committee cannot forbear to add the following 
valuable extract from the highly interesting report of the 
Central Committee of this county : — " It is only by the 
possession of facts, that the public can judge correctly 
of the real state of common school education among us. 
■And surely it must be equally appalling to the patriot and 



16 

the philanthropist, to find so great a portion of our youth 
rising up to sustain the relations, and discharge the duties, 
of citizens and parents, without that education, which 
alone can fit them for their future responsibilities. By a 
glance at the summary of the reports, it will be seen that 
there are in five townships, about 1663 children between 
the ages of five and fifteen ; that 449 of these are uneduca- 
ted ; and that consequently, upon an average, one fourth of 
the future men and women of these townships, are in danger 
of growing up in the most deplorable ignorance. It is true, 
a considerable portion of these may pass, now and then, a 
quarter at school ; but it also true, that children who attend 
only a short time at long intervals, make scarcely any pro- 
ficiency, as they nearly forget all that they acquired during 
a few months' attendance, before the next opportunity of 
going to school occurs. With these facts and considerations 
before us, who does not desire and hope, that our Legisla- 
ture may adopt some efficient plan, which may put it in the 
power of our fellow-citizens to bestow upon their children 
such an education as may prepare them for the active duties 
of life, and give them access to those means of moral im- 
provement, which may fit them for happiness beyond the 
grave." 

CUMBERLAND — The committee submit the entire 
report of the Central Committee of this county. 

" The township reports not being in all cases so full and 
minute as could be desired, it is impossible to ascertain the 

{>recise number of scholars in the several schools. It is be- 
ieved, however, that an approximation may be made to the 
truth, sufficiently near for all practical purposes. The fol- 
lowing table exhibits the number of schools in the county — 
the number of months during which the schools are taught — 
and the average number of scholars in winter and in summer. 



Number of 
schools. 


No. of 
months 
taught. 


Average num- 
ber of scholars 
in winter. 


Average num- 
ber of scholars 
in summer. 


17 

15 

14 

8 


12 
9 
6 
3 


550 
373 
345 
145 


483 

299 

226 

20 


Total. 54 


1 


1413 


1028 



17 

" In two of the schools nine scholars were taught the lan- 
guages ; and in several other schools geography and survey- 
ing were taught. Most professed to teach reading, writing, 
and arithmetic. A few, generally kept by females, were 
confined to spelling and easy lessons in reading. In most 
cases, the teachers were of good moral character, although 
in a few instances it was lamentably otherwise. Very few 
consider the business of teaching as a regular profession, and 
still fewer have taken pains particularly to qualify them- 
selves for the task of instructing others. Several good school- 
houses, in tolerably populous neighbourhoods, have been 
vacant most of the year for want of teachers. Indeed, the 
greatest evil, and that which calls most loudly for a remedy, 
is the difficulty in obtaining competent instructers who are 
willing to engage in the occupation of teaching for a reason- 
able length of time. The compensation obtained is generally 
inadequate, and the necessary consequence is, that individu- 
als competent to teach, seldom engage in school-keeping if 
they can find any other occupation. 

" No measures have been taken to ascertain the number of 
children in the county not instructed. The number of those 
who grow up altogether without school instruction, is pro- 
bably not very great, but there are undoubtedly by far too 
many who are not taught to- write or even to read. It has 
been satisfactorily ascertained that there are more than four 
hundred adults in the county unable to read, and a conside- 
rably larger number unable to write. Some of these are 
foreigners, but a majority are natives of the county. 

" A considerable portion of the county is poor land where 
the population is scattered and poor, being generally em- 
ployed in cutting and carting wood, and in preparing coal 
for the manufacture of iron and glass. In those districts, 
the means of obtaining a common school education seldom 
exist, and there is, therefore, a great necessity for an effi- 
cient system to be established by law. Such a system 
would stimulate the people to greater exertions, and would 
be of immense importance to those who are too poor to edu- 
cate their children without some assistance !" 

The committee will add, with a view of supplying, in some 
measure, the deficiency in this report, relating to the number 
of children not schooled, that the agents who explored this 
county for the N. J. Bible Society last year, reported more 
than Jour hundred children as destitute of instruction ! 

C 



18 

CAPE~MAY, — No report has been obtained from this 
county. This has been owing to the fact that no committee 
was appointed in the county until it was too late for the re- 
port to be used by this committee. In the absence of such 
a report, the committee will give the following extract from 
the pamphlet published at the request of the N. J. Bible 
Society last year. The information contained in it, was re- 
ported by the agents of that society, who explored this county. 
" In the three northern townships of Cape-May, there are 
upwards of two hundred adult persons, that is, according 
to the distinction which we make in this pamphlet, above 
fifteen years of age, who cannot read. One of the agents 
makes this statement in his report: — 'Of the families which 
1 visited, there were eighteen in which there were none who 
could read ; twenty in which neither of the parents could 
read ; and forty -five in which only one of the parents could 
read!! 1 " 

Upon this appalling picture the committee feel that they 
need make no remark. 



A summary of the foregoing details would, in the estimation 
of the committee, exhibit the following results, as it regards 
the probable number of children destitute of instruction : — 



In Bergen, 


700 


u Essex, 


1,200 


" Morris, 


600 


" Sussex, 


1,500 


et Warren, 


1,500 


44 Hunterdon, 


907 


" Somerset, 


485 


** Middlesex 


1,000 


*' Burlington, 


600 


41 Monmouth, 


1,100 


" Gloucester, 


900 


" Cumberland, 


400 


" Salem, 


750 


Cape-May, 


100 



making an aggregate of eleven thousand, seven hundred 
and forty-two children. In addition to these affecting facts, 
it is to be remembered that thousands of children, in the State, 
not embraced in the above enumeration, receive only a par- 



19 

tial and very imperfect education, and in many places, by im- 
moral and unqualified teachers. The whole system of com- 
mon schools, if system it may be termed, is sadly defective. 
Every school-master (speaking generally) is left to pursue 
his own course of instruction, without responsibility — amen- 
able to no tribunal and subject to no inspection or supervi- 
sion. The committee submit it to the intelligence, the good 
sense, patriotism and philanthrophy of their fellow-citizens, 
if we have not reached a crisis in our history, when it be- 
hooves us to awake to this interesting subject. Let us, through 
our Legislature, adopt a system of measures to elevate our 
common schools, to subject every teacher who would as- 
sume the high trust of forming the character of our children 
to previous examination, and a certificate of qualification by 
some authorized and respectable board of visiters, Let 
every teacher be bound to make an annual report of the con- 
dition of his school, the matters taught — the books used, and 
the progress of his scholars. Attach to this important office 
by public statutes the responsibilities which really belong to 
it, and we shall frown away from our neighbourhoods the lite- 
rary impostors who have so often abused the confidence of 
our people, and degraded the character of the employment — 
and, let us above all, endeavor quickly to remove the re- 
proach of nearly 12,000 children growing up in utter igno- 
rance. Where can our Legislature so usefully bestow the 
cares of government as upon this immensely important ob- 
ject ? And surely it is high time, when we recollect, that by 
an investigation made about a year since, it was ascertained 
that nearly 15,000 adult citizens of our State, were not able 
to read. 

We cannot wonder at the universal concern that is felt r 
that some measures of relief might be adopted. Let us, as 
freemen and republicans, never forget that the only safe- 
guard of our liberties, next to the blessing of God, is a vir- 
tuous and enlightened population. 

The committee have deemed it useful to annex to their re- 
port the subjoined letters* from other States, that we may be 

* These letters are oxtracted, with the exception of those written by Gov LineoTriy 
Gov. I'arris, and Mr. Vaux, from a series of Essays on the subject of education, which 
have been, for a number of weeks, publishing in the Newark Sentinel. These Essa,ys 
the commitee rejoice to perceive, are also published in most of the papers which are 
printed in New-Jersey. They are republishing in several other States and arousing pub- 
lic attention to the momentous subject which is discussed in them The letters which the 
committee give in the subsequent part of this pamphlet, were addressed by the distin- 
guished gentlemen by whom they were written to the author of these Essays. The 
commute are happy to learn that it is intended to reprint the whole of these Essays, 
in a pamphlet form, embracing, besides the letters which they give, several others of a 
valuable nature, some of which have not been published in the Series. 



20 

excited to this good work, by the illustrious examples before 
us. Who can fail to be warmed into a laudable and honour- 
able spirit of competition, when he learns from this corres- 
pondence, that in our Sister State of New-York, more than 
460,000 children are now receiving a substantial, practical 
education, under the wholesome discipline, and the moral 
cultivation of well regulated common schools. Her states- 
men have given this matter a high place in their code of leg- 
islation — they have devoted to it their best energies, deeply 
convinced, that it is connected with their dearest interests 
and hopes. Let New-Jersey emulate this noble example, 
and we may justly hope for as auspicious results. 

CHARLES EWING, 
JOHN N. SIMPSON, 
THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN* 






The School System of New- York. 

Tii^foundation of the school fund of this State was laid in 
1805, and by successive appropriations made to it, it has now 
become more than $1,600,000, and yields an annual interest 
of about $85,000. The annual amount appropriated by 
the Legislature to the promotion of education is at present 
$100,000. The counties are required, by taxation to raise an 
additional amount, equal to their respective shares of this sum. 
There are 55 counties, 742 towns, (or townships as they are 
commonly called with us,) and about 8,300 school districts, 
in the State. In 7,806 of these districts, from which reports 
were received by the Superintendent of schools, in the year 
1827, there were 441,856 scholars. It is probable that the 
whole number of scholars in the 8,300 schools belonging to 
this system, is more than 460,000 ; who receive instruction 
during a longer or shorter period, annually. The following 
interesting letter from the Hon. A. C. Flagg, Secretary of the 
State of New -York, and Superintendent of common schools, 
gives a minute, and yet brief account of the system : — 

"Albany, Sept. 15, 1828 
" Dear Sir : 

The revenue arising from the school fund is apportioned, by the 
superintendent, to the several towns and cities in the state, in the ra- 
tio of the population in the cities, and in proportion to the children 
between 5 and 16 in the towns. The amount of the apportionment for 
each county is transmitted to the board of supervisors, which body is 
required annully to assess upon the taxable inhabitants of each town, 
a sum equal to that which is apportioned to the town by the superin- 
tendent. Thus, there is paid from the state treasury to each town a 
certain sum on condition that the taxable inhabitants of the town raise 
a like sum, and the amount thus provided must be applied exclusively 
to the payment of teachers' wages, and of those duly qualified, accor- 
ding to the provision of the school law. 



In order to participate in the school monies of the town, each district 
must erect a school-house, by a tax on the inhabitants of the district, 
and furnish it with necessary fuel and appendages ; and have a school 
kept at least three months in each year, by a duly qualified teacher. 

The amount paid from the state treasury is transmitted to the treasur- 
er of each county, and by this officer paid to the school commissioners, 
three of whom are annually chosen in each town ; the collector of the 
town pays the amount assessed upon the town for the use of schools 
to the same commissioneis: these commissieners apportion the money 
which comes into their hands to such districts as have complied with 
the conditions of the statute, and have made their returns to the com- 
missioners accordingly. 

The trustees of each district are required to account for the expen- 
diture of the money by an annual report to the commissioners of the 
town, embracing,- also, the number ef children, and the general con- 
dition of the district. (See page 32 of the school act.) If they fail 
to make the report, the school money is apportioned to such districts 
as do report. The town commissioners are also required to make an 
annual report, accounting for the money received for their town, giv* 
ing the number of districts, and an abstract of the returns from tha 
several districts. (Page 37 ) The reports of the commissioners are 
sent to the county clerk, who is required to transmit copies thereof 
to the superintendent of common schools. It is made the duty of the 
superintendent to present an annual report to the Legislature, con- 
taining an abstract of the reports received from the several towns, 
&c. — Each i own appoints annually three commissioners, whose duty 
it is, to divide the town inro a convenient number of school districts, 
to receive the school monies !br the town, and apportion them among 
the several districts, and to make an amual report to the superinten- 
dent. Each town clerk is, ex-officio, clerk of the school commission- 
ers, and is required to altend to all cummunications received from the 
superintendent, for the commissioners. There are also appointed by 
the town, annually, three inspectors of common schools, whose duty 
it is to examine all teachers for the town and give certificates. They 
are also required to visit the schools at least once in each year. The 
taxable inhabitants of the district, by a majority, designate the site 
for the school-house, vote a tax for building the house and appoint the 
district officers, consisting of three trustees, a clerk and collector ; 
the trustees assess the tax, have the custody of the school-house and 
employ the teachers, and pay them the public money, and collect the 
residue of the teachers' wages from the patrons of the school. 

The county treasurers and the county clerks are the organs through 
which the money is transmitted to the towns, and the school reports 



23 

received from them. — There is an appeal to the to'vn commissioner* 
from certain acts of the trustees, &c; and an appeal to the superin- 
tendent from certain acts of commissioners, &c. (page 2G and 32, 
school act.) 

This State distributes annually 100,000 dollars, which is about 25 
cents to each scholar between 5 and 16. These 25 cents go out 
coupled with such conditions as to ensure the application of at least 
three times its amount to the same object: That is, the town makes 
it 50 cents, and the necessary expenditures by the inhabitants of the 
district, if they restrict themselves to a bare compliance with the law, 
must be at least 50 cents more. It is thus seen that by this feature 
in our school system, 100,000 dollars apportioned from the state trea- 
sury, are made to perform the office, or at least, to ensure the applica- 
tion of 400,000 annually, to the use of common schools. 

For a more detailed account of our school system, I beg leave to 
refer you to the Statute relating to common^schools, and the last An- 
nual Report, both of which are forwarded by mail. 

I am, with much respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

A. C. FLAGG. 

Such is the system of New-York, which ensures the edu- 
cation of more than 460,000 children, or one-fourth part of 
the population of the State, in the common schools, during 
an average of eight months annually. 



The School System of Connecticut. 

Of the three modes of providing for popular instruction, 
viz : that in which the scholars pay every thing, and the 
public nothing, (such is the mode now existing in New-Jer- 
sey) — that in which the public pays every thing, and the 
scholars nothing, (as in Connecticut) — and that in which the 
burden is shared by both — the arguments advanced by Dr. 
Chalmers, in his " Considerations on the System i.f 
Parochial Schools in Scotland" in favour of the last, ap- 
pear to be unanswerable. When people know that they can 
get their instruction for nothing, they care very little about 
it, and are so apt to wait till the proper period of education 
be gone, without seeking it at all, and so disposed if the 
schools are kept up but a few months in the year, to depend 
upon the public bounty, and unwilling to contribute to the 



24 

support of schools in the intermediate months, that there is 
good ground for the assertion, that "one consequence of 
charity schools is a diminution in the quantity of educa- 
tion. 1 ' That the Connecticut system does produce the result 
of repressing the liberality of the people towards this object 
of benevolence, and leads them into the habit of relying 
upon the public money, to the neglect of education in most 
of their districts, during a considerable part of the year, we 
have the best reasons for believing. And yet this is the 
yery system, defective as it is, and opposed to the plainest 
principles of policy, which some amongst us wish to see' 
adopted in New-Jersey. They are, therefore, for waiting 
thirty or forty or fifty years, until a generation or two passes 
away in ignorance, before they appropriate any thing from the 
public treasury. Now it is susceptible of demonstration, that 
if we had a school fund whose annual interest would support 
all the schools in New-Jersey, (and it would require an im- 
mense fund to do this,) the cause of education would not be 
greatly benefitted, as benevolence and a desire for education, 
on the part of the people, would be alike diminished. 

With respect to the system of common schools which is 
established in Connecticut, we take the liberty of laying 
before our readers the following valuable letter, from the 
Hon. Roger M. Sherman of that State, which gives an inter- 
esting sketch of the system : — 

Fairfield, Sept. 11, 1828. 
"Bear Sir, 

"I have just received your letter of the 3d inst. Its subject is one 
of the highest importance which can engage the attention of the 
Christian or the Patriot. The moral and political rank of our coun- 
try must result, in a very great degree, from the early instruction 
of children, or from the want of it. 

" At a very early period, the State of Connecticut was divided into 
parochial districts or societies, sometimes commensurate with a town, 
(township,) and sometimes of smaller limits, for the regulation of 
their ecclesiastical concerns. The town itself, when not too large* 
was endowed with this capacity; but in many instances, a corporation 
of smaller limits was created for that purpose. In May, 1717, these 
societies were empowered by the Legislature to levy taxes on their 
own inhabitants by a major vote v and make other regulations for the 
support of schools. No considerable appropriation was made from 
the public treasury to aid in this object, except a small discount from 
the general state tax, which each town was authorized to reserve, 



25 

until May, 1795, when the avails of certain lands lying within the 
limits of the ancient charter, west of the State of Pennsylvania, and 
amounting to one million two hundred thousand dollars, were ap- 
propriated for the maintenance of schools throughout the State, and 
the annual product made liable to a perpetual distribution for this 
purpose. From the re-investments of interest, converting it into 
principal, and from various evolutions through which this fund has 
passed, resulting from the negligence of debtors and other causes, its 
present amount is upwards of seventeen hundred thousand dollars, 
and about seventy thousand are annually distributed for the support 
of schools. Previous to this appropriation, no general system exist- 
ed, but every society adopted its own method of instruction, rarely 
resorting to the power of taxation, except for the erection of school- 
houses. In the country towns, the employment of the citizens was 
chiefly agriculture. In the warm seasons, the children who were of 
sufficient age, were employed in the labours of husbandry, and in win- 
ter were generally kept at school. For one third or half the year, 
teachers were employed in almost every neighbourhood in the State ; 
and reading, writing, and the rules of arithmetic adapted to ordinary 
use, were understood by almost every child at the age of fourteen 
years, throughout the State. In these schools, morning and evening 
prayers, and religious instruction were almost universal, and condu- 
ced not a little to inspire an early respect for the principles of moral- 
ity and religion. 

« When the appropriation was mr><?e, in 1795, the territories com- 
posing ecclesiastical societies, were formed into school societies, and 
when convened in that capacity, posseted no power, except in regard 
to the regulation of common sch^s. This change became very pro- 
per and even necessary. Originally, the inhabitants of the territory 
were of one religious ^nomination, and the same individuals had a 
common interest in all its concerns', both religious and secular ; but 
at that period, the great diversity which had arisen in the course of 
time, gave rise to a new corporation of the same territorial limits, for 
the regulation of schools alone. As early as 1766, the several socie- 
ties were authorized to divide their territory into school districts, and 
when the act of 1795 was passed, that power had been exerted and 
districts formed in almost ^very part of the State. 

" The outline of the system now existing is briefly this : — Every 
school society is required to hold an annual meeting, and elect a 
clerk, a treasurer, a committee to direct and manage their concerns* 
a committee for each school district within their limits, and a number 
of persons, not exceeding nine, " of competent skill in letters," to be 
overseers or visiters of the several district schools. The districts 

D 



26 

are legal corporations, with power to levy a tax for the erection or 
repair of a school-house, famishing it with all proper accommoda- 
tions, and supplying the school with fuel; the teacher is elected by 
the committee for the district, appointed by the society, with the 
assent of the district ; but is not allowed to commence his duties,until 
examined by the visiters and approved. The visiters have a general - 
discretionary power to prescribe regulations, and they may at any 
time displace the teacher. It is made their duty to visit the schools 
at certain periods, to exact such exercises and exhibitions as may 
enable them to judge of the proficiency of the pupils, and to superin- 
tend and direct the course of instruction. Each society may insti- 
tute within its limits, u a school of higher order," for instruction .in 
the higher branches ofliterature. This appertains to no district, but 
its privileges are common to the whole society ; and it derives a pro- 
portional share, according to its number of pupils, of the revenues of 
the school fund, payable to the society. 

" The school fund is managed by a single commissioner, who pays 
to the treasurer of the State its annual nett proceeds. The number 
of children in every district, between the ages of four and sixteen, is 
ascertained in August, annually, by the district committee, and certi- 
fied under oath, to the committee of the society. By the latter, the 
results of these returns are transmitted on oath, to the treasurer of the 
State, and the returns themselves are perpetually preserved in the 
files of the society. Twice in each year the treasurer transmits to the 
several societies in the State, which have conformed to the require- 
ments of the law, the sums then in the treasury, proportioned to the 
number of children in each society, on receiving the certificate of the 
committee, that the,monies previously received have been wholly ex- 
pended in paying teachers who were duly examined" and approved. 
The monies are distributed to the several districts by a similar pro- 
portion. 

u Requiring of the recipients of this public bounty nothing more 
than that it be expended according to the provisions of the law, is an 
obvious defect in this system. In this point, the policy adopted in the 
state of New-York, is deserving of imitation. A sum proportioned 
to the amount received from the State, ought to be advanced tor the 
same objects, by all to whom it is distributed, excepting the indigent. 
Such a proposition would cause a valuable augmentation of the reve- 
nues of teachers, and in that way command services of a higher 
character. But I should not consider that as its highest excellence. 
We know from common and universal experience, that little interest 
is felt in that which demands neither expense nor attention. Our coun* 
try is affluent, and pecuniary means may be commanded for whatever 



27 

we have the will to perform. Few, comparatively, are bo indigent aa 
to need charitable aid in the education of their children. A public 
fund for the instruction of youth in common schools, is of no compa- 
rative worth as a means of relieving want. A higher value would 
consist in its being made an instrument for exciting general exertion, 
for the attainment of that important end. In proportion as it excites 
and fosters a salutary zeal, it is a public blessing. It may have on 
any other principle of application, a contrary tendency, and become 
Worse than useless. It may be justly questioned whether the school 
fund has been of any use in Connecticut. It has furnished a supply 
where there was no deficiency. Content with the ancient standard 
of school instruction, the people have permitted the expense of sus- 
taining it to be taken off their hands, and have aimed at nothing 
higher. They expended about an equal sum before the school fund 
existed. They would willingly pay seventy thousand dollars more, if 
made a condition of receiving the State bounty, and thus the amount 
would be doubled, for an object in which they would then feel that 
they had some concern. 

"I pray you, Sir,tapardon the brevity of this outline, which 1 have 
given, of the system on which our common schools are established, 
and the few remarks which I have submitted. 

" Your's, with great respect, 

ROGER M. SHERMAN." 

We hope that the views which are presented in the fore- 
going letter from Mr. Sherman, will have due influence upon 
the people of this State. They are the views of a distin- 
guished man, who has paid long and careful attention to the 
subject. 



The School System of Rhode- Island. 

The following excellent letter of Dr. Wayland, President 
of Brown University, a flourishing literary Institution of 
that State, gives full information respecting the school sys- 
tem which the Legislature have lately adopted. 

"Brown University, Oct. 2, 1828. 
" Dear Sir, 

" Your letter arrived while I was absent from home. Since my re- 
turn, I have frequently reflected on the subject it suggests, and I will 
give you as briefly as possible, the results at which I have arrived. 

" What has been done in ibis State until the last winter, can be brief- 



28 

ly told. With the exception of an abortive attempt "to establi sh pub 
lie schools about 20 years ago, nothing whatever had, until then, been 
done. Our Legislature, at its January session, appropriated the t 
on lotteries, amounting, I believe to $10,000 per annum, to the estab- 
lishment of public schools, and also commenced a permanent fund, to 
which $5,000 per annum are to be added. The $10,000 are to be dis- 
tributed to the several towns in proportion to their population, and 
ei£h town is authorized by law to appoint a school committee to re- 
ceive and pay out the money, to examine and appoint teachers, and 
have, in various respects, the general superintendence of the schools. 
The towns were also authorised to tax themselves to an amount not 
exceeding twice the appropriation which they receive from the dis- 
tribution. This, I believe, has been generally done, and the system 
is at presemt under operation with promising success. These are, I 
think, the most material facts in this individual case. 

" The remarks which I shall make on the general subject have most 
probably occurred to all who have reflected on the subject. As they 
have, however, occurred to me principally from my own observation, 
they may possibly add something to the stock of knowledge which 
you are collecting on the subject. If they are of the least possible 
use, I shall be abundantly rewarded. 

"The necessity for a provision for public instruction arises, I suppose, 
from the fact that education is one of those blessings of which the des- 
titute do not appreciate the value. In this respect it resembles reli- 
gion: in both cases, it is found that it can only be successfully propa- 
gated by an effort on the part of those who have it, to extend it to 
those who have it not. This consideration deserves weight from the 
fact, that the universal education of a people, has never, so far as I 
know, been accomplished without the assistance of Legislative provi- 
sion or enactment. If such a case can be found, I am satisfied that it 
must, from the principles of human nature, have occurred in a country 
so unlike our own, as to furnish no argument against the genera! 
principle. The importance of education to our form of Government 
has been so often shown, that I need not mention it. Its value as the 
means of increasing the productiveness of human labour, of elevating 
the social character, and thus eradicating the more sensual and de- 
grading vices — of diminishing the enormous public expenditures for 
the detection and punishment of crime, and also of diminishing the 
sums annually expended for the support of the poor, has been so often 
and so eloquently illustrated, that a bare allusion to it will be suffi- 
cient. 

"But supposing all this to be granted, in what manner can Legisla- 
tive effort be most wisely directed? : It is generally supposed that that 



29 

«ffort should be directed to the accumulation and distribution of large 
funds to be appropriated to this object. lam disposed to believe that 
this opinion is erroneous. Funds are valuable in this case as a con- 
diment, not as an aliment. They should never be so large as to ren- 
der a considerable degree of personal effort on the part of the parent, 
unnecessary. The universal law of divine providence, in the distribu- 
tion of its favours, is on the principle of quid pro quo. The adoption 
of any other, except in the case of absolute helplessness, is so ftri as I 
have observed, pernicious. Witness the effect of funds for the sup- 
port of the ministry. A fund is only useful, in this sort of case* in so 
far as it induces men to help themselves. If they will help (hemselves 
without it, so much the better. As soon as they are aware of the 
value of education, and it has elevated them to a certain point of 
moral acquisition, they will not want it ; Nay, if it be continued after 
they have arrived at this point, I think it may be injurious in its effect. 
If it, for instance, be so large as to give some sort of education to 
every one, and every one is sufficiently desirous of education to take 
it for nothing, but not enough so to be willing to pay for it, a community 
will soon suppose that it is not worth paying for, and will soon care 
very little about the thing, and only desire the most meagre represen- 
tative of it. A fund, under these circumstancs, effectually retards 
education. It may keep a community from absolute ignorance, but 
it will fatally prevent them from making the exertion necessary to 
acquire an education of any material value. Nor is this a purely im- 
aginary case. In Connecticut, if I have not been misinformed, this 
result has already taken place. 

" The best Legislative provision with which I am acquainted, is ihat 
of Maine. They have no fund whatever, but oblige every district to 
raise, for education, a sum proportioned to the number of its inhabitants 
or its property. If a town or district neglects to do this, it is liable to 
a fine equal to the sum which should have been raised for schools. 
This fine is distributed among the surrounding districts or towns, for 
some public object, what, 1 do not accurately remember. I am, how- 
ever, aware that such a law could not be carried or enforced, except 
in a community aware of the value of education. In your State, I 
presume, the stimulus of a fund would be necessary. 

" From these remarks, you will understand me when I say, that pro- 
bably your fund is sufficient to make a noble experiment in your State. 
And you will also readily see why I think, that in all cases it would 
be better to distribute it conditionally. It might be divided in the 
ratio of population, provided always that a certain sum for the same 
purpose, say as much, or twice as much, or thrice as much, be raised 
in the towns: or what would be still better, it might be distributed to 



50 

the districts in proportion tothe number of scholars actually educated, 
in the form of a bounty on a scholar. This would probably awaken 
«n interest in every school and district, to collect those who otherwise 
ivould have no education whatever. 

" But supposing all this to be accomplished, I fear another difficulty 
is yet to be surmounted. It is that of devising a system of control 
and responsibility, which shall put into the hands of a man, or of men, 
deeply interested in its success, the power to carry it into full and active 
operation. There is a difficulty in inducing a community to delegate 
this power, and to a thoughtful man, as great a difficulty in finding 
one to whom he would be willing to confide it. If such a man as 1 

Buppose Mr. F to be, were to make himself fully acquainted 

with the present state of common schools amongst us, its defects, and 
the best mode of remedying them, and were to devote himself to it as 
commissioner of the school fund, a result I think might be produced 
which would give the world some new ideas of what is practicable in 
the education of a people. 

" Besides this general superintendence, there must be also devised a 
Bystem of local superintendence, and responsibility, which shall ope- 
rate on every instructer and pupil, from their own immediate neigh- 
bourhood. A school committee which should examine the school 
freqnentty, employ and pay the teachers, and report faithfully to the 
superintendent of schools, and with whom he might communicate, 
would seem indispensable. Wherever this can be done, great good 
may be expected. I have thought that having one day in the most 
pleasant part of the year devoted to the public examination of the 
schools, the distribution of rewards, &c, and making it a sort of a uni- 
versal literary gala-day, would probably be of some beneficial effect. 
It would soon be a sort of celebration, of which every citizen would 
be proud, and it would conduce greatly to the permanency of such a 
system, if it were once established. 

' All this I presume, every one will see is desirable How mnch of 
it may be accomplished, no one not intimately acquainted with your 
population could conceive. The arranging of this point will require 
great wisdom, and above all, that perfect " wisdom which comes from 
above," where alone the nature of the case is fully understood. By 
the actual state of the case, of course, all your plans mast be modified, 
and I sincerely hope that the results may be such as your most bene- 
volent wishes may have formed. 

•* Asto the devising of a system of instruction, I should proceed upon 
(he principle that all our present teaching is very nearly as bad as it 
can be. It is almost all treating of the pupil as though he were a ma- 
chine, and it is rapidly proceeding to render the instructer a machine 



31 

also. There is no effort made to exercise the mind of the pupil, or 
make him understand, or feel what he reads. Indeed, the teaching 
of reading is but little more than teaching to sound the letters of tho 
alphabet in combination. It is a task to both pupil and teacher, for it 
is in opposition to all the principles of the human mind. Indeed it 
exhibits most strikingly the feebleness of the human intellect, and the 
weakness of its powers to reason a priori, to observe that after all the 
attention to the subject for many years, the best examples of instruc- 
tion, and the most perfect models of the art may be found, as I think 
they are, in the infant schools so lately established. With children 
unable to read, the old system could not be carried into effect : they 
could not be made automatons, and the only way in which it is prac- 
ticable to teach them is, to teach them well ; that is, to interest them, 
and set in operation the original powers of the mind. By this method, 
which necessity, I suppose, first suggested, the mi-ids of children of 
four years old are as much matured, as those generally without it of 
eight or ten. I speak from hearsay and oral information, and reading, 
for I regret that I have never yet seen one of these most valuable 
institutions. But this subject would require a volume, and I must 
leave it. 

" I have thus, my dear Sir, given you the most obvious considera- 
tions which have suggested themselves to my mind, during the limit- 
ed time for reflection which I have possessed. I am sensible that they 
are mere hints, and how far they may have a bearing upon your "par- 
ticular case, I know not. As the thing advances, if in your power, 
let me hear of it, and I need not assure you how much I shall rejoice 
at your success. 

" I am, dear Sir, Your's truly, 

F. WAYLAND, Jun." 

We have in the foregoing letter the reflections of a man 
who has had ample opportunities of witnessing the effects of 
the school systems of New-England and of New- York. We 
hope that they will help to produce correct views of this 
momentous subject in the minds of all that read them. — 
From personal, and other sources of knowledge, we are 
satisfied that Dr. Wayland has long turned much of his at- 
tention to the subject of education ; in superintending some 
of the highest stages of which, he is now so honourably and 
§o usefully employed. 



32 

The School System of Vermont. 

The following is a copy of a letter received from His 
Excellency Governor Butler, of Vermont, in which the 
School System of that State is pourtrayed in a simple and 
felicitous manner. 

" Waterbury,(Vl.) Oct. 3, 182JL 
"Dear Sir. 

" I take pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of your communioa~ 
tion of the 9th ultimo, and in attempting an answer to your inquiries. 

" The importance of common school education demands the serious 
attention of all classes of people, but more especially of such indivi- 
duals as have the most favourable opportunities of observation, and 
of appreciating the justice of its claims. It forms the chief support of 
Christianity A ° d genuine Republicanism ; and in promoting'the former, 
it gives efficacy and permanency to the principles of the latter. As 
ignorance and prejudice interpose the strongest barriers to the progress 
of the one, they not only impede the progress, but render valueless the 
blessings and privileges of the other : — nay, more ; where their domin- 
ion is unrestricted, the people are incompetent of self-governments 
Knowledge and Christianity mutually aid each other, and at the same 
time constitute the only firm pillars of our government. Commoa 
schools are the original sources of that knowledge which is power. 

"You request me to give you a condensed view of our school system ; 

its origin, its operation, its completeness, and its defects, together 

with any other information I may deem valuable. 

♦'The foundation of our common school system may be found in the 
charters under which we hold our lands, and in the habits of the first 
and leading emigrants who settled in the territory now known as the 
State of Vermont. 

" Our lands were divided into townships, generally of six miles square.* 
A township was granted to 60 or 70 proprietors. Each proprietor had 
one right, and among these rights, several equal shares were reserved 
for public uses, among which there was one for the support of common, 
schools in tbe town. 

" Since the establishment of our present Government, and thegen<- 
eral settlement of the country, some towns have been provided with 
several rights for the support of their schools. This has been effect- 
ed either by actsjof legislation, or the exertions of individuals. , Other 
towns are entirely destitute of any lands at present available, for tbe 
support of their schools. 

" The trifling encourugement thus given to common schools, to- 



33 

gether with the enterprising spirit of the first settlers, originated a 
system which has since been progressing with the state of society. 
On the first settlement of a town, as soon as fifteen or twenty scholars 
could be convened at one place, a school was commenced under the 
instruction of a female, generally, in the summer months, and a male 
teacher in the winter, — thus affording instruction to children between 
the ages of three and twelve, about three months in the warm sea- 
son ; and those between three and twenty and upwards, about the 
same length of time in the winter. When the school had increased 
to the number of sixty or more, and was thought to be too large for 
the management of one individual, the school district was divided. — 
Thus the number of districts in a town increased from three and four, 
to fifteen or twenty. 

"At the early period to which I first referred, the schools were 
supported by the united efforts of the several members of the dis- 
tricts. Each parent or guardian contributed in proportion to his 
number of scholars. The public lands were not then available. This 
course, which was then pursued in most towns, forms at present a 
striking feature in our system. 

" The Legislature of Vermont have ever been mindful of the in- 
terests of education, and have ever considered the instruction given 
in common schools, of vital importance to the State, and the commu- 
nity at large. 

" We adopt the principle, that it is just to compel the rich to assist in 
educating the poor ; at least, so far that all may, with exertions which 
are within their own power, enjoy the privileges of common schools. 
But we have kept steadily in view the advantages which would re- 
sult to the community, by expending all the public money, in a man- 
ner that would encourage every district and every individual to unity 
of action. Each town has power to divide itself into districts, and to 
tax itself for the support of schools, and each district has also power 
to tax itself. And in addition to the power given to each town and 
district, the "select men" of each town are compelled to levy and 
collect a tax of three cents on the dollar of the grand list of the town 
each year, unless they have other public money to the same amount. 
Upwards of 50,000 dollars were raised in this way last year. This 
money is divided to every district, in its respective town, according to- 
the number of scholars over the age of four years, and not beyond 
eighteen. Each district must support its own school a certain part of 
the year, in order to be entitled to any money raised by the town. 
The Legislature have taken measures to raise a school fund otherwise 
than by direct taxation ; but this is as yet very small, and no part of it 
will probably be employed for many years. All persons who are dis- 

E 



34 

posed are admitted into our common schools, persons of colour not 
excepted. It frequently happens that scholars may be found in the 
same school from the age of three to Jive and twenty, and eveo 
upwards. 

" Until last year, every district examined (when disposed) and em- 
ployed its instructer, without the interference of any other board; 
but the school act of last session makes it necessary for instructors to- 
be examined by a board appointed by the town for that purpose. — 
whether the provision just referred to, and some others contained ire 
the same act, will promote the object intended, remains to he tested 
by experience. 

"However defective our laws on this subject may appear to those 
who are abroad to have been, the beneficial effects that have resulted 
cannot be questioned. Very few men or women can be found in this 
State, natives of the State, who cannot read and write, and employ 
figures for common purposes. 

" The health of the pupils is seldom impaired by the most severe 
application. This fact may be easily accounted for. The pupils are 
almost universally employed in useful exercises while out of study. 

" In these schools a laudable ambition and thirst for knowledge are 
excited, and such are the customs of the people, and the nature of 
our Seminaries, that the highest honours of our colleges are open to 
the most indigent young men, if they will be economical and persever- 
ingly industrious. These schools have contributed much to sound 
morality, and aided civil government; and what is highly valued 
among us, they tend to maintain equality among the citizens, by form- 
ing the poor into agreeable companions for the rich. That kind and 
degree of education, which enables every individual in the community 
to acquire and enjoy, with reputation, the common blessings of Provi- 
dence, according to the gifts bestowed by nature on each, can never 
be too highly prized, or too eagerly sought. 

"Our system is undoubtly incomplete, and will probably be the sub- 
ject ol improvement. But one important point, however, has been 
attained; — the rich and poor, the wise, and those comparatively igno- 
rant, unite almost without exception in the opinion that every child, 
at the proper age, shall receive instruction at these schools. Let this 
point be gained in every State in the Union, and the means to effect 
this benevolent object will not be wanting. 

"I am aware that much exertion, much benevolence, and real re- 
gard to the public good, are necessary to accomplish this object; — the 
enlightening of the people universally, in those parts of our country 
where the wealth is chiefly in the possession of a few ; while many 
are destitute of the means, and not less destitute of the desire to edu- 



35 

«ate t heir childrm. Wealth must furnish the means of instruction ; 
und without the contributions of those that possess it, the poor must 
live and die in ignorance. 

" Wealth looses much of its value, when its possessor is surrounded 
*by ignorance, and her too common companiou, vice. A pittance be- 
stowed for the purpose of education, would certainly render the 
remainder more useful and safe to the possessor, while at the same 
time, he has conferred a favour on the community, both intellectually 
and morally. 

"But in this work of justice, benevolence and kindness, it is to be 
^oped that all may be excited to action, by nobler motives than that 
<af self-love. 

*' With respect your most obedient servant, 

EZRA BUTLER." 

It is not necessary to add any thing to this very interest- 
ing and satisfactory letter, which bears so honourable a tes- 
timony to the public spirit, real benevolence, and correct 
views of its distinguished author. It must have struck the 
attention of every reader that we are here presented with the 
example of a state, that has intelligence enough among her 
citizens to support common schools, in a systematic manner, 
without the aid of a fund. This faet excites two important 
questions. Do the people of Vermont estimate the advan- 
tages of education so highly, as to submit cheerfully to the 
requisitions of their statutes, and raise the sum of 50,000 
dollars per annum, by tax, to maintain schools to which 
the children of all classes have access ? And are the peo- 
ple of New-Jersey willing to do nothing to promote the ed- 
ucation of all her children, and thus to elevate the State to 
a higher degree of intelligence, virtue, respectability, hap- 
piness, and prosperity ? 



The School System of Massachusetts, 

The following letter, written by His Excellency Gover- 
nor Lincoln, a man of distinguished talents and reputation, 
gives avery perspicnous exhibition of the school system of 
Massachusetts. 

" Worcester, Massachusetts, 20, 1828. 
*• Sir, 

" I have been prevented, partly by the pressure of public engage- 
ments, and partfy by ill health, from acknowledging, at an earlier date, 



the receipt of your letter of the 5th inst., and I now fear, that this 
reply, hastened by the expression of your wish, that it might be for- 
warded in season for the publication of your proposed statement, will 
be altogether unsatisfactory. 

" You ask to be informed of our school system, — the way in which 
money is raised, — its amount, — and its application. 

" It has been alike the happiness and glory of the people of Massa- 
chusetts, from the earliest settlement of the Colony, to have made ample 
provision for the education of children and youth, and what is truly 
remarkable, the mode which was first adopted for effecting this purpose, 
by public contributions equally apportioned according to the ability of 
the county and of the inhabitants respectively, has remained unchanged 
to the present time. In the year 1647, a law was passed, which re- 
quired such townships as had fifty householders to appoint some person 
within their towns, to teach children to write and to read; and towns 
which had one thousand householders, to maintain a grammar school, 
in which youth might be fitted for the university; in the quaint language 
of the preamble to the act, — "It being one chief project of Satan to 
" keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, and to the end, that 
" knowledge might not be buried in the graves of our forefathers, in 
" church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavours." By 
subsequent statutes, as the country advanced in population and wealth, 
the number of schools to be supported by the towns, in the fulfilment of 
corporate obligations, was increased, the required qualifications of 
teachers raised, and the penalty for neglect in maintaining the schools, 
each year, which was at first^e pounds, was advanced, from time to 
time, to thirty and forty pounds. To prevent incompetent and impro- 
per instructers from being employed, it was required that they should 
be subjected to an examination by the clergymen of the town, and 
approved by the Select-Men. Parents and masters were also enjoined 
to allow those under their care to improve the opportunities publicly 
afforded for their instruction, and a species of literary and moral police 
constituted of the ministers of religion, Overseers and officers of the 
■College, and civil magistrates, to see that neglect and breaches of 
the laws were duly noticed and punished, 

" Such-is a brief outline of the institution of common schools under 
the colonial and provincial charters. A review of the ancient statutes 
presents much matter for interesting reflection, and shows with how 
great solicitude the support of their primary Seminaries was regulated, 
and the care which was taken to prevent an evasion of the requirements 
of authority, on the part of the towns. After the formation of the 
State Constitution, the statutes were revised, and by a law of the 
commonwealth, passed in 1789, it was required of every town or dis- 



37 

trict containing fifty families or householders, to be provided with a 
school-master, or school-masters, of good morals, to teach children to read 
and write, and instruct them in the English language, as well as in arith* 
metic, orthography, and decent behaviour, for such term of time as shall 
be equivalent to six months for one school in each year. And any town 
or district containing one hundred families or householders was to be 
provided with such master or masters, for such term of lime as should 
be equivalent td one school for the whole year. Additional schools, and 
of higher character, were to be maintained by towns of greater ability ; 
and authority was given to towns to create and define school districts, 
within the limits of which school-houses were to be erected and schools 
kept, and to raise money for their support, by assessment of the polls 
and rateable estates of the inhabitants, to be collected in the manner of 
other taxes. School-masters before they were employed, were to be 
examined and approved, and all the obligations created by law were 
enforced by high pecuniary sanctions. In 1827, these laws were again 
revised, and some improvement in the plan of regulating and teaching 
the schools, which experience had suggested, were introduced 

"The more particular details of the system by which the common 
schools of Massachusetts have now, for two centuries, been effectually 
maintained, and made eminently successful in diffusing knowledge and 
the principles of virtue and piety among the people, are better gath- 
ered from the statute books, than from any abstract which may be 
offered of their various provisions. The practical operation of the 
iaws has been, to secure in every district and village of the common- 
wealth, the means of regular instruction to children in the elementary 
branches of learning, and where there was wealth and population to 
justify the occasion, the establishment and support of Schools of compe- 
tent character to prepare youth for admission to College, or to enter 
upon the active business of life. The towns are divided, by their own 
act, under the authority of the law, into convenient and distinct dis- 
tricts with precise geographical limits, having regard to the dispersed 
or compact situation of the inhabitants In each of these districts is a 
school-house, the erection and repairs of which, may be caused by the 
town, or by the district themselves, which for this purpose have the 
powers of corporations in holding meetings and granting money. The 
money to maintain the schools is granted by the towns in their meet- 
ingsheld in the month of March or April annually, and is afterwards 
assessed and collected with the other taxes for the year. It is usually 
distributed among the districts by orders drawn by the Select-Men or 
the treasurer, according to some proportion, either of the amount paid 
within the district, or the numbers of minors, or to each district an 
equal part, and in all instances, in conformity with a previous vote of 



38 

the town. By the late law, a school committee consisting of three, 
five, or seven, is required to be chosen annually, who have the 
general direction and oversight of the schools. It is made their duty 
to employ the instructers of the highest schools, and to examine into 
the character and qualifications of all the others. They are to visit 
the schools frequently, and to ascertain by their own observation, 
that they are faithfully taught. They have authority to prescribe the 
class-books which are to be used, and in their discretion, to cause them 
to be purchased at theexpense of the town, and furnished to those who 
are destitute of them, to be assessed afterwards on the parents or guar- 
dians who should have supplied them, unless from poverty they shall be 
excused by the assessors. A Committee-Man is also chosen, for each 
district, for the management of the prudential concerns of the school 
within his District, whose particular duty it is to engage the instructer 
for the district, with the approbation of the school committee, to see that 
the school is accommodated with a suitable house, to provide fuel and 
proper conveniences, and to consult with, and give such information and 
aid, to the committee of the town, as may enable them to discharge 
their assigned duties. 

" As to the amount of money raised annually, in the different towns 
of Massachusetts for the support of public schools, it is obvious from 
referring to the provisions of the law, that it varies with the situation 
and ability of the respective corporations. If in towns having fifty 
families, schools are maintained at the public charge for as great a 
proportion of the year as would be equal loone school for six months, 
and in towns having one hundred families, for such terms of time, as 
would he equivalent to one school for the whole year, and so on, 
according to the enactment, the law is satisfied. But it rarely hap- 
pens that so little is done as would be limited by a strict compliance 
with legal requirements. It may be considered as a general remark, 
applicable alike to all the towns, that in granting money for schools, 
the only inquiry is, how much benefit will the situation of the inhabi- 
tants admit of their deriving from opportunities for the instruction of 
their children ; and the answer has a higher relation to their desire for 
the improvement of schools, than to the money which might be saved 
in the time of keeping them. The usual arrangement in country towns 
is to provide sufficient means for keeping a man's school for the three 
winter months, with a more particular reference to the instruction of 
boys and youth of some advance in years, and a woman's school for 
children, during the rest of the year, or at least through the summer 
months, in each district of the town, and scarcely less than this is done 
in any school district of the most inconsiderable towns. In many 
places much more is accomplished. But as the information, which has 



39 

been requested, relates to schools enjoined by law, the maintenence 
of those supported by subscription, or kept by individuals on their own 
account, of the one or the other of which classes there are some in- 
the most populous towns, is not noticed. 

"It will be seen, therefore, from the foregoing detail, that schools 
are established throughout Massachusetts by the authority of law ; — 
that they are kept a portion of each year in such convenient districts 
in every town, as to afford opportunity to all the children and youth to 
attend them; — that the money raised by the town to defray the ex- 
pense of all the schools, is distributed by some just and satisfactory 
rule of proportion among the districts; — that competent and suitable 
teachers are secured by the obligation to which they are subjected of 
an examination and approval by the school committee, and that fide- 
lity in the discharge of their duty is enforced by their responsibility to 
this committee, who are required frequently to visit the schools, pre- 
scribe the books to be used, and direct the course of instruction. As 
a system of public and general arrangement, it seems hardly possible 
it should be improved. The particular attention which was given to 
the whole subject upon the last revision of the law could suggest 
nothing better. It will be recollected, however, that there is not, nor 
has there ever been, a public school fund in Massachusetts. The 
support of the schools depends upon the requisition of law and the 
force of public sentiment in their favour. It has been sometimes the 
suggestion of observant and wise men, that a greater interest is man- 
ifested in their proper improvement where this is the case, and when 
the inducement of a personal concern in the expense is added to a 
sense of duty in directing its appropriation. Certain it is,that there has 
never been any want of interest manifested here, either in raising a suf- 
ficient amount of money, or in attending to its most useful application. 
The result is every where seen in the degree of education and qualifi- 
cation for business, which is possessed by all classes of the people. 
Even in the humblest condition of society, a native citizen of Massa- 
chusetts will hardly be found, incapable of reading and writing, or 
ignorant of the rudiments of grammar and the elementary rules of 
arithmetic, while there are thousands, who, through the instrumen- 
tality of the public schools alone, have acquired a olassical education 
and been eminently useful and distinguished in life. 

" I regret, Sir, that f am not able better to comply with your wishes 
in answering the precise inquiries which you did me the honour to 
address to my attention. The General Laws of Massachusetts furnish 
the history of our whole school system, and the fidelity with which 
they have been regarded is the only explanation of its success. The 
volumes which contain these Statutes, are doubtless in the Librarv of 



40 

the Legislature of your State, and to them I beg leave respectfully to 
refer — Tlie latest act, w ich was a revision of all preceding ones, is 
the Statute of 1826, Chapter 143. 

" With sent injents of great respect, 
I have the honour to be, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

LEVI LINCOLN." 



The School System of New- Hampshire. 

The subsequent letter is from the Hon. John Bell, Gover- 
nor of New-Hampshire, which, in a very lucid manner, 
developes the school system of that State. 

« Chester, October 6th, 1828* 
"Dear Sir, 

" In answer to your letter of the 9th of September, requesting s 
condensed view of the origin, operation, and effect, of our school sys- 
tem, I have to observe, that the existence of laws compelling the in. 
habitants to support schools for the education of children, is almost 
coeval with the establishment of our old Provincial Government. 
Previous to the revolution, every township was required by law to 
maintain schools, and all such as contained one hundred families, 
what was called a grammer school, or school in which the learned 
languages were taught. When the Provincial Government was ex- 
changed for a State government, the laws on this subject were re-en- 
acted with some modification. In 1805, |the laws on this subject 
underwent a thorough revision, aud received several very beneficial 
alterations. 

" We have no school fund. Our schools have always been sup- 
ported by an annual tax, assessed upon the polls, and property of all 
the inhabitants, in the same manner in which our State and county 
taxes are assessed. This tax raises ninety thousand dollars annually, 
which is apportioned amongst all the townships in the State, in pro- 
portion to the amount which they respectively paid towards it. The 
townships are authorized to divide their inhabitants into convenient 
school districts, and the amount of school tax raised by each town- 
ship, is divided by the township officers (Select -Men) amongst the dis- 
tricts in proportion to the sums which the inhabitants paid towards 
the school tax. The inhabitants of the school district select a person 
from their district, to engage a teacher for the district, who must pro- 



41 

duce a certificate from some person of liberal education, that lie is 
qualified to teach the English language grammatically ; writing, arith- 
metic, geooraphy, &c. &c. and satisfactory evidence of citizenship in 
the United States, of good moral character, and of sober life and con- 
versation. Without such certificate and evidence, no payment can 
be made from the proceeds of the school tax. The law imposes a 
penalty on the Select-Men of such townships as shall fail to comply 
with its requisition. 

"Every township, at its annual meeting for the choice of its town- 
ship officers, chooses a committee to inspect all the schools within the 
township, and make a report to the collected inhabitants at their 
next annual meeting, of their progress in improvement. The law re- 
quires each school district to provide a convenient school-house, and 
a majority of its voters are authorized to assess, and collect a tax from 
the inhabitants of such district, in proportion to their other taxes, for 
providing such houses. 

" If the district neglect this duty, the Select-Men are required 
to cause such houses to be»built, and collect the amount so expended 
from the inhabitants of the district. 

" The length of time during which the schools are kept, varies ac- 
cording to the size and wealth of the district ; it is generally from 
four to eight months annually. The effect of this system has been 
very salutary. Scarcely a single native citizen under forty years of 
age, of either sex, can be found, who has not been taught to read and 
write their native language. It has elevated the character of our 
population, in point of intelligence, and correct moral habits. 
I am, Sir, with great respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

JOHN BELL." 



The School System of Maine. 

The School System of Maine is given in the following 
interesting letter from the Honourable Albion K. Parris, late 
Governor, and at present, one of the Judges in the Supreme 
Court of that State. 

" Portland, Maine, Dec. 11, 1828. 
"Dear Sir, 

" I received this morning your's of the 5th inst. requesting informa- 
tion relative to our system of general education. The whole, or 
nearly the whole, of the settled or improved parts of our State is laid 

F 



42 

off into towns, or as they would be'denominated with yon, townships, 
UBually of about six miles square. 

" Some of our more populous towns, on the sea-board and the mar- 
gin of our large rivers, are of less territory; but in the interior and 
agricultural parts of the State, they are generally not far from that 
size. We have no general or State fund for the support of schools. 
In some of our townships, a reservation was made, in the original 
grant from the State, of a small portion of such townships for the 
support of schools and the ministry. 

"These lands are vested in the several towns in which they are 
situated, and are eventually sold, and the proceeds constitute a fund 
for the objects for which they were originally reserved. In this way,- 
some of our towns have small funds, the interest of which is annually 
appropriated to aid in the support of schools. These funds, however, 
form a very inconsiderable part of the amount annually expended for 
the purposes of primary education. 

"By a permanent law of Maine, every town is required annually 
to raise and expend for the maintenance and support of schools 
therein, a sum of money not less than forty cents for each inhabitant 
the town contains, the number to be computed according to the next 
preceding census; — so that a town containing two thousand inhabi- 
tants of all ages, is required to raise and expend within its own 
Mtnits annually, at least eight hundred dollars for public schools. 
This money is assessed, and collected, on the polls and estates of 
the town, in the same manner as other public taxes are levied, and 
is paid into the town treasury, but can be appropriated for no other 
Purpose. This law is rigidly enforced ; every town failing to com- 
ply with its requirements, in this particular, being liable to forfeit and 
pay a sum not less than twice, nor more than four times the amount 
of such failure or deficiency, to be recovered by indictment, .or in an 
action of debt, to the use of the person who may sue therefor. In 
this mode our school fund is annually collected from the pockets of 
our citizens, and is paid with more cheerfulness than any other tax 
to which they are liable. ^For the more convenient and profitable 
expenditure of the money, thus raised ; — each town is divided into a 
number of school districts, of convenient size, having regard to the 
population and extent of territory in each, so that on the one hand, 
they shall not be so large in population, as to render the school unpro- 
fitably numerous, or so extensive in territory, as to render it inconve- 
nient for those living at the the extreme parts to avail themselves of 
the advantages ; nor on the other, so small, in point of numbers, a« 
to prevent the support of a school fox a reasonable portion of the year. 



43 

These districts are formed by the several towns, at their annual 
meetings for the transaction cf town business, and continue uatil, 
from a change in population or other causes, an alteration in their 
limits becomes necessary. — Each district when so formed, is by law 
declared to be a body corporate for certain specific purposes; is em- 
powered to raise money, from time to time, to build or repair school- 
houses, and to purchase land on which the same may stand. The 
money, so rated, is assessed and collected in the same manner as 
town taxes are, and, when collected, is paid over to a committee of 
the district to be expended. If any districts neglect their duty in 
erecting; or repairing school-houses, the town in which such district 
is situated, has power to grant a sufficient sum to erect or repair such 
house, to be assessed on the polls and estate within such negligent 
district. — Each town is required to choose, annually, a superintending 
school committee of not less than three, nor more than seven, whose 
duty it is to examine school-masters and mistresses proposing to teach 
school therein, and also to visit and inspect the schools in their res- 
pective towns, and inquire into the regulations and discipline thereof, 
and the proficiency of the scholars therein, and use their influence 
and best endeavours, that the youth, in the several? districts, regu- 
larly attend the schools, and to direct what school-books shall be 
used in the respective schools. At the annual town meeting there 
is also chosen an agent for each school district, whose duty it is to 
hire the schoolmasters or mistresses for their respective districts 
and to provide the necessaiy fuel and utensils for the schools. If any 
parent, master, or guardian, neglect to furnish their scholars with 
suitable books, they are furnished at the expense of the town, and 
their cost is added to the tax of the negligent parents, masters, or 
guardians, in the next annual assessment. 

" No person can, by law, be employed as a school-master, unless he 
be a citizen of the United States, and produce a certificate from the 
superintending school committee of the town where the school is to 
be kept, and also from, some person of liberal education, literary pur- 
suits and good moral character, residing within the county, that he is 
well qualified to instruct youth in reading and writing the English 
language grammatically, and in arithmetic and other branches of 
learning usually taught in public schools. The money assessed and 
collected in each town, for the support of schools, is apportioned 
among the several school districts, within such town, according to 
the number of children therein between the ages of four and twenty- 
one years. By this mode of apportionment, every child, of however 
indigent or dissolute parentage, derives, or may derive advantages 
from public instruction, equal to those enjoyed from the like source 



44 

by the children of the most wealthy in the State. The proper officers 
in the several towns are required, periodically, to make a return to 
the office of the Secretary of State, of the number of school districts 
within their respective towns, the number of children in each of said 
districts, between the ages of four and twenty one years, the number 
who usually attend school in each, the amount of money raised and 
expended for the support of schools, designating what part is raised 
by taxes, and what from funds, and how such funds have accrued, and 
the time the school may have been kept annually in each, designating 
how much by a school-master, and how much by a school-mistress. 
In our agricultural towns, the schools are usually kept by a master, 
in the winter, when they are generally fully attended by the lads of 
all ages, and require a higher order of government than can usually 
be expected from females. During those months in which the larger 
male scholars are employed in labour on the farms, the schools are 
usually attended by girls and the smaller boys only, and are taught 
by females. In those towns where they have no other funds, except 
what are raised by annual taxation, a master's school is usually kept 
up three months or more, in the winter season, and a school instructed 
by a female, about the like term in the summer season, and it is, by 
law, made the duty of the superintending school committee of each 
town, to visit each school, within such town, at least twice during the 
term for which it is kept ; once within three weeks from its commence- 
ment, and once within two weeks from the close thereof. 

"I have thus shown you how our schools are formed and supported; 
— how the funds are provided, the districts formed, the houses erected, 
the instructers engaged, the schools regulated ; and I hope with so 
much minuteness as will enable you to understand it. The whole 
machinery is moved with such perfect regularity, throughout the 
State, that-there is not an individual, in any town within its limits, 
who may not give his children a good English education at the public 
expense. The effect of this is, an intelligent and enlightened popula- 
tion, not confined merely to the large towns, or their vicinity, but 
spread throughout the State; extending equally, in every direction 
to its utmost limits. It is accomplished with so much ease, and is 
attended with such beneficial effects, that I am confident no people 
would hesitate to adopt this, or some similar plan of general educa- 
tion, could they. but witness its operation and experience its results. 
" Very respectfully, Sir, &c. 

ALBION K. PARR1S." 



45 

The following letter from Mr. Vaux, a gentleman well 
known for his humane and philanthropic efforts, in behalf 
of those who are confined in our prisons for their crimes, as 
well as in other benevolent enterprises which have reflected 
so much honour upon the highly respected society of Chris- 
tians of which he is a member, exhibits all that has been 
done in Pennsylvania to promote common schools, except- 
ing an abortive attempt to introduce a general system which 
was made in 1824 or 1825. 

"Philadelphia, 9mo. 12. 1828. 
" Esteemed Friend, 

" 1 very much regret that the reply which I am about to make to 
the inquiry submitted in thy letter of the 3rd instant, will administer 
no assistance to the laudable effort of New-Jersey, to establish 
common schools in that State. 

" It is an affecting fact, that this commonwealth has no general 
system of free public instruction, and cannot, therefore, by her expe- 
rience shed any light upon the path of her neighbours, in this impor- 
tant branch of public economy. 

" In the provincial agjs of Pennsylvania, her founder and lawgiver, 
and his associates, wisely provided for the education of all classes of 
youth, but their successors in power did not enlarge, and adapt the 
system to the wants of a rapidly increasing population, and as the 
period of the revolution approached, the subject seems to have been 
forgotten or disregarded. 

"The Constitution adopted in 1790, directs, that Hhe Legislature 
shall, as soon as conveniently may be, provide by law for the establish- 
ment of schools throughout the State, in such manner that the poor may 
be taught gratis.' 

- " The first attempt to carry this injunction into effect was made in 
1809, when an act was passed directing the enrolment of children 
between five and twelve years of age, who were to be sent to the 
most convenient schools, and the expense of their instruction was to 
be defrayed, by the County Commissioners, from the County Treasury. 
This law was imperfectly enforced in only a few counties of the 
State, and I fear is still neglected, as a recent investigation, by a 
society established for the purpose, exhibits a melancholy and deplo- 
rable picture of the ignorance which prevails in many parts of Penn- 
sylvania. 

" The city and county of Philadelphia are provided with schools of 
mutual instruction, on the Lancasterian plan, in which the average 
number of children annually taught is about four thousand, and the 



46 

expense of the tuition of each pupil is four dollars per annum. I 
transmit the last report of the controllers of these schools, together 
with a manual showing their operation. 

"lam not without a hope, that this great State will become 
roused to a sense of the magnitude "of the subject, which seems to 
have put New- Jersey in motion. It is time that statesmen, and legis- 
lators, should regard a sound, moral, and religious education, as the 
true source of national strength and honour. 

" Education, such as I have mentioned, will prevent crime ; and in 
a single generation would contribute more toward diminishing the 
number of paupers and eonviets, than the best concerted criminal 
and poor laws; — however, the want of instruction may render such 
public provisions now necessary. 

•' Let us then be diligent in rendering our share of service to this 
excellent cause* animated with the belief that it will be crowned with 
the Divine blessing ! 

" J am, with great regard, 
Thy friend, &c. 

ROBERTS VAUX." 



^M> 



